I h ad an incident yesterday which highlights the dangers of operating a common drill press. Although I am aware of all (most) of the safety requirements of machine tool operation we all slip from time to time don't we! In this case loose clothing. I was wearing a top with baggy sleeves of wool. The workpiece was held in the vise and rotated so the vice was held from rotating further but the column. This requires a firm hand on the vise to stop the whole lot raising up the drill when breaking thru'. My normal procedure for heavy work with small holes. Otherwise I clamp the vise down. Drilling several holes with a small dia TiN drill the cutting was going great with long curls of swarf coming off. Several times the swarf hit my sleeve and got stuck there and broke off. The penny still did not drop. Next time it really got stuck and dragged the sleeve into the drill bit and my arm with it. Luckily the motor stalled when all loose clothing was wrapped around the drill and my arm held tight. My other arm reach the switch and turned off the machine. The only outcome was the loss of about 5mm2 of skin off the end of my thumb. Could have been a lot worse. I was very lucky. So the moral of the story is to take note of all the safety factors and obey.
Cheers,
Brian

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Brian
Â* Â* Â* Â* "to grow old is compulsory - to grow up is voluntary!"

...and yes I have had my 'stupid' moments. Like you all, Ive become complacent with machinery from time to time and I sometimes get a reminder as to the dangers of that complacency.. several years ago I was installing a new blade on the band saw.

Getting the rollers adjusted was being a pain and I made the final move with the adjusting allen key while it was running (complacency sets in...). Adjuster stuck slightly then let go and my hand dragged sideways across the blade (3 TPI for hardwood and a big saw), snagged it on the blade as it went by. No pain at all. I looke dat my finger and oops.... tiem for a visit to the hospital...

This looks remarkably good consdiering I was picking small slivers of bone out of it while being driven to hospital. While holding it I 'broke' what small piece of bone was holding it together just in my hand with a little pressure to control the bleeding.

I have full use of it (rh index finger) with no loss of sensation. It couldnt be stitched because the meat and skin on top was just shredded (you can see the shred lines) so it was just placed back together and put in an open aluminium molded splint so the ycould change the dressing daily.

This is an old digital insurance photo so it is a little blurry.
It is my left thumb after getting a glove tangled up where a
glove should not have been worn. When I got loose from the machine
I couldn't feel my thumb and was a little afraid of taking that glove off.
When it doesn't hurt that means one of two things.
You are either going into shock or it's gone.
I was actually relieved to see this.

It didn't hurt then but for two weeks after that incident I could bump
that thumb off of things I never got close to!

Thanks for the responses above. Seems like my little incident hardly rates among some of those stories. I spoke with a steel worker today and he showed me his hand which had been caught in a BIG drill press whjle he was wearing gloves. He thought no problem hold on tight and stall the machine but it had too much grunt and kept on going. His hand was a mess but is nearly back to normal now. I can appreciate the DP being rated No.1 dangerous machine. I am just setting up a buff on an 8 inch grinder so will have to watch what I'm doing with that. The other thing I've had for a while is an 8 inch wire wheel with a vert course wheel on the other end. I use this for tidying up ends cut in the bandsaw etc and "radiusing" and taking sharp edges off lumps of steel. No problems yet but the wire wheel really 'bites the hand that feeds'.
May all future accidents be little ones - like mine.
Cheers,
Brian

__________________

Brian
Â* Â* Â* Â* "to grow old is compulsory - to grow up is voluntary!"

I distinctly remember my Dad telling me " Don't touch the bandsaw while I'm gone!" He was going on a fishing trip,,,mid 70's
Well of course if you tell a 12 year old not to do something......well
I said to my young stupid self....Self!...I'll just turn the top pulley by hand and cut this piece of knotty pine for this project I was working on.

That way I can say I never turned it on....

Well, half way thru the piece, the course blad hit a knot and folded the piece and stuffed my left index finger right in...

I got 6 or 7 stiches....cut half way through the bone...didn't touch any tendons or ligaments or thankfully the last joint which it was right next to. It functions perfectly to this day...though a bit shorter than the other

Last winter I complained it was too cold to go into my workshop one night and was told to wear a jacket.
I then explained to my wife why I never wear anything but short sleeves in the workshop.
After that she agreed a jacket was a bad idea.

Maybe I am over cautious as I wear a full face shield not just glasses when I use any machinery but would rather be over cautious than not enough.